Forward Thrust

Recently, I had begun working for a company that I highly considered cool and remarkably appealing. This was a job that I knew a lot of my friends and people in general would die for – I was paid to party, what could be better than that? I had flexible time for the most part and met a lot of interesting individuals. When people found out where I worked, they automatically flock to me hoping to get in for free or attain certain perks seeing that I work at a “superclub”. It wasn’t just the partyin’ and drinkin’ part that made me want to stay. It was certain benefits that included allowances, and “ot” pay, meeting important and cool people and learning the ropes of how to run a resto-bar-club while doing events. It was indeed a juggling act.

This was dream job for me, in the sense that I’ve always been lured to the nightlife. I like to party, I love to dance and I especially love to meet folks from diverse backgrounds. I also love learning and I did gain a certain amount of knowledge with the type of industry that I was in while honing my creativity and people-skills in the process.

Unfortunately, the world financial crisis hit a lot of businesses hard, including ours. I was amongst the many that got retrenched from our company. Though I liked my job, I wasn’t going to let this put me down. I intended to look at the brighter side of things and see the world half full. I have to say that I was lucky because I still had a month to go to look for a job. I felt privileged to have worked in this business and how it enhanced my skills and upped my confidence. I was glad to know that I was going to be paid for my month’s stay despite the fact that I wasn’t really going to be working for the most part. This was certainly good news for me. I vowed to start making use of my time wisely and focus on the things that I’ve always wanted to do. I began to create a masterplan on how to prepare myself from the unexpected turn of events. Though I am not worried at this point, I do not plan to take chances. I know that the universe likes speed so I just need to focus on the type of work that I want to be associated with and everything else will fall into place.

My preparation began by making sure that I accumulate all payments due to me such as my paycheck for the month, commissions, my ITR (income tax return) and seperation pay. I know these things will help me financially, especially when I go and search for a new stable income.

I also began to look into several part-time, homebase or freelance work that is of interest to me or ones that I have experience in. I have noticed that there has been a rapid increase in people becoming interested in finding work online. I must say that I wasn’t really surprised seeing the pros of the nature of virtual business industry. Benefits included being able to handle your own time plus the option of selecting different types of work you can choose from. Some of the work online allows you to make use of your skills and others will enable you to do things that cater to your interest. Another plus factor is the potential to earn much more. The reason behind this is because clients online are based mostly overseas and whatever currency compared to a perso seems much better at this point.

Caution is something that should be at the forefront in this type of industry since some might end up as being just a scam or some clients might not pay you at all. So far, when it came to my personal experience, this type of work is pretty ok – meaning I get paid pretty well. Another option for me is to work for companies near my area or those employers who would allow their employees to work from home. This way I get to save money on gas, parking, food, etc.

One trait that serves me well especially at this point is my skill to budget my money. It all started when my mom opened a junior savings account for me and my brother when I was just a kid (and soon after, my little sister followed) and that is how I began the journey of learning to save in case of rainy days. Right now, I use an excel file for everything including my finaces. I list my expenses monthly and from this, i am able to decifer which ones I need to prioritize and which ones I can do away for the meantime. I also believe in balancing everything in life so learning to budget allows me to enjoy my money while being responsible with it.

It is also good to know your prioritizes in life especially with your finances during this time. It is always advisable to pay the essentials first, such as rent if you have your own place and PUBs. Always set aside money for emergencies and try to limit going out and partying, having fun and buying unneccessry stuff. With regards to my credit card, I am trying my best to use it for emergencies only. It has always been a policy of mine to never lose myself in debt so I am trying to let my beloved plastic rest for awhile.

These are just a couple of things that I have been doing for myself to prepare for the unfortunate incident that happened to the company that I am with now. I am constantly reminding myself to keep positive and to never lose heart. I always bear in mind the people who have lost jobs in the previous years and lived to tell their tales – these are people I met in passing, some were mentors and others are good friends. A lof of successful individuals who lost a lot went on to bigger and better things in life. It is liberating to acknowledge that losing your job is never an indication of your worth as a human being – not even the quality of your work. As long as you have the right outlook, you can always utilize this opportunity to rethink about your life as a whole and even determine a new direction that may very well be more gratifying in the long run – both monetarily and personally. So now, I am excited to start another new chapter in my life. In all honesty, I am so ready for the next exciting adventure I am about to plunge into and what the splash of life has to offer. Cheers to the good life!